Well, I can’t quite believe it, but yesterday we celebrated my son’s first birthday. Words can’t really capture the intensity of this journey/rollercoaster/whatever cliche fits…it’s been simultaneously magical and terrifying, and I wouldn’t’ change a thing 🙂

We have learnt so much, lost so much sleep, laughed a huge amount and it just feels like the biggest privilege to watch a human grow.

We enter the world so helpless compared to other animals (like those foals that are up and about so quickly after birth) but my goodness, those giant human baby heads are filled with brains that just have the most incredible potential for growth and change. It amazes me to think that my tiny son, who is on the cusp of getting the hang of speech and walking, will one day be able to drive a car…and it amazes me that this is how we all started. It’s also made me realise how much we take for granted the things that many of us can do – things like eating, drinking, movement, speech – these are all really complicated, they take ages to learn and it’s really not surprising that they can go wrong and any of us could lose those abilities. I’ve become so much more conscious of what it means to be human, and how adaptable, clever and vulnerable we are…

Tristan was born on a New Moon, 17 days after his due date. It’s another cliche to say that my partner and I were reborn at the same time, but it’s absolutely true.

My personal illustration work has been taking a slightly different direction lately – for the last few years I’ve been focussed on drawing plants and animals for different commissions with sketchbooks full of frogs, hedgehogs, lizards and lavender as I collected reference material.

More recently, I’ve been using drawing to explore and express some of the thoughts and ideas in my head… some still very much related to animals and the natural world, as well as using the pages of my sketchbooks to ponder relationships, personal growth and other aspects of the more human side of life.

So, this is a new feature in my blog – a space to ponder, explore and share some of my thoughts, ideas and experiences.

I love those moments when you get a chance to step back from your life and think about what’s going on and why, rather than simply living it. That 5 minute break over a cup of tea, the dog walk or run when your thoughts have space to breathe, the revelations you gain in meditation…

Now, I’m not claiming to be wise or to have anything figured out, but I am always learning, always looking out for words and quotes that help me understand my place in the world, and I thought it would be nice to share them.

Having moved home a couple of times recently, I found myself thinking a lot about what the concept of ‘home’ means.

It can be a surprisingly tricky word at times where you’re not sure where yours really is. It’s not just about bricks and mortar (or wood, canvas, cob or whatever your dwelling may be made out of!); it’s about something else.

I’ve been doing some doodles and illustrations pondering the elusive and beautiful idea of home…and finally concluded I may not know what the word really means, or be able to describe or explain it, but I do know how home feels.

It’s somewhere you can curl up and relax and feel safe, like a fox in a den.